1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More specifically, the present invention relates to reconfiguration of a network of telecommunication devices.
2. Background Information
In the telecom industry, complex and specialized software and hardware systems are a given. Because each system is specialized, information used by one system is not easily manipulated for use in another. As a result, software designers are constantly asked to provide solutions, via software, that can integrate different systems in a consistent and easy-to-use manner.
Designing and building software that is consistently easy to use and can integrate and manipulate information from other systems is often extremely difficult. Device modeling gives to the software systems designer a method for representing behaviors of very complex devices in a model that is simple to use and understand. The model will remain the same even if the device changes; thus, the software designer is free to concentrate on the functional capability of a device.
Device emulation is used to mimic the behavior of a modeled device and its features. Where the device model is used in the context of device emulation, the device model is invoked as part of the application. Therefore, the capability of an application can be expanded by simply providing a new device model for any given device type. Of course, different applications are free to use the emulation of a device type for different purposes. Essentially, device emulation provides the "how" to device modeling's "what". Device emulation allows new features to be introduced in the system in a standard way, thus avoiding code changes, which in turn leads a more reliable product, and shorter development cycle.
Device emulation enables system developers to focus more on the system's functional objectives than on the peculiarities of the device or network elements being managed. All information exchanges between the network management software and the network elements take the form: 1) what needs to be done--the action, and, 2) what to do it with--the data. As an intermediary between components, the device emulation adds interpretation or knowledge (the how) to the action-plus-data (the what). When a user makes a change to a device, the network management software interprets what that change means using device emulation and then makes that change directly on the device. The device's response is in turn interpreted so the management software can understand it.
In copending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/188,473, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,792 filed on Jan. 28, 1994, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, an improved method for efficiently modeling and emulating devices in a network of telecommunication systems was disclosed.
In addition to the complexity of these specialized software and hardware systems, constant changes, i.e. reconfiguration of devices in terms of their operating features and connectivity, is also a given. Thus, it is desirable to have an automated approach to reconfiguring telecommunication devices, in particular, an approach that can leverage on the modeling and emulation technique disclosed in the copending application.